The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia And Toyota Expand National Safety Program To Philadelphia To Address Disproportionately

  The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia And Toyota Expand National Safety
 Program To Philadelphia To Address Disproportionately Higher Risks Faced By
                  Minority Children In Motor Vehicle Crashes

"Buckle Up for Life", First National Program of Its Kind, Nearly Tripled the
Number of Children in Seatbelts and Car Seats in Program Pilot

Program Marks Third Partnership between Toyota and CHOP to Improve the Safety
of Child Passengers

PR Newswire

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 12, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to disproportionate
risks that African American and Hispanic children face in motor
vehicle-related crashes, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP),
Toyota and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center today announced that
they are bringing the groundbreaking national safety education program Buckle
Up for Life – or Abrochate a la Vida in Spanish – to Philadelphia for the
first time.  The program represents a partnership between two of U.S. News'
top-three children's hospitals and one of the world's largest automakers to
improve the safety of some of the most vulnerable children on the road. To
 view a video about the program, please click here.

Research analyzed by Cincinnati Children's shows that, due to multiple
factors, African American and Hispanic children are significantly less likely
than non-African American and non-Hispanic children to be buckled up in seat
belts or properly installed car seats.

Key Facts

  o Car crashes are the number one killer of children in the U.S. between the
    ages of 1 and 12.[i]
  o African American and Hispanic children are as much as 10 times less likely
    than Caucasian children to   be restrained while in a car.[ii]
  o In crashes involving fatalities in children under 14, seat belt use is
    lower among African Americans than among all other race or ethnic
    groups,[iii] and 52 percent of African American children in fatal crashes
    were unrestrained, the most of any race or ethnic group. [iv]
  o Three out of every 4 car seats are not used or installed correctly (across
    race and ethnic groups)[v].
  o The number of children buckled up nearly tripled among families who
    participated in one of Buckle Up for Life's pilot cities.[vi]
  o More than 45,000 participants have completed the program and over 20,000
    car seats have been distributed.

New Partnership with CHOP Is Part of a National Expansion that Is Doubling
Buckle Up for Life's Reach  

The expansion of Buckle Up for Life to Philadelphia is part of an effort by
Toyota and Cincinnati Children's to double the program's reach.   The new
partnership with CHOP joins other new Buckle Up for Life programs in Las
Vegas, Houston and Orange County, CA.  In addition, Buckle Up for Life
programs are already in place with local hospital partners in Chicago,
Cincinnati, Los Angeles and San Antonio. 

"We are pleased to see CHOP's partnership with Toyota expand to include the
Buckle Up for Life program developed by our colleagues at Cincinnati
Children's," said Dr. Steven Altschuler, Chief Executive Officer, The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Our number one priority is to keep
children safe and help save lives. Together with Toyota, we hope to make a
real difference in Philadelphia and increase awareness of the need to be
properly buckled up."

"At Toyota, we are strongly committed to the belief that everyone deserves to
be safe," said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of National
Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation at Toyota Motor North America. 
"Through our educational outreach, Toyota's Collaborative Safety Research
Center (CSRC) and numerous partnerships with leading hospitals, nonprofits and
research universities nationwide, Toyota is engaged extensively in programs
that help ensure that drivers and passengers are safe at every stage of life. 
Buckle Up for Life is a vital commitment for Toyota, and we are proud to be
working with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to expand its reach."

Toyota's support for Buckle Up for Life is part of the company's ongoing
commitment to help make local communities safer and stronger.  The company has
contributed more than $600 million to nonprofits throughout the U.S. over the
past 20 years. 

Buckle Up for Life Marks Third Partnership between Toyota and CHOP to Keep
Children Safer in Vehicles

Toyota and CHOP have a history of collaborating on cutting-edge research and
innovative programs to keep children safer in vehicles.  Other current
partnerships between Toyota and CHOP include:

  o Toyota was a founding member of CHOP's Center for Child Injury Prevention
    Studies (CChIPS), a research center that focuses exclusively on making
    children and adolescents safer. Sponsored by the federal National Science
    Foundation as an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, CChIPS
    brings together researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
    and The Ohio State University to work side by side with industry members
    to conduct translational research that is practical to industry.   As part
    of CChIPS, Toyota plays a critical role in the direction and progress of
    research with an ultimate goal of advancing the safety of children through
    science, education, and action.
  o In collaboration with researchers from CChIPS, researchers from the CSRC,
    the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and SAFER, a
    vehicle safety research center in Sweden, will conduct a study of a youth
    ice hockey team to better understand the mechanisms of concussion.  This
    injury is the most common injury to children in motor vehicle crashes and
    researchers will conduct a state-of-the-art analysis of head acceleration
    data to determine correlations between impacts and injury outcomes.
  o Through the CSRC, Toyota and CHOP have collaborated on a multi-year
    project directed toward establishing a new national database to track
    detailed information on motor vehicle crash injuries sustained by child
    passengers.

About Buckle Up for Life/ Abrochate a la Vida

  o Buckle Up for Life, or Abrochate a la Vida, is a national, community-based
    injury prevention initiative supporting the African American and Hispanic
    communities.  Working with local hospitals and churches, Buckle Up for
    Life addresses the economic, cultural and, where appropriate, language
    barriers to motor vehicle safety. 
  o Over a six-week period, the program's medical experts and trained
    specialists work closely with participants of all ages to deliver vital
    safety information in an engaging, culturally sensitive and memorable
    way.   Participants are eligible to receive free car seats, and they are
    matched with certified child passenger safety technicians to help install
    these car seats and ensure that children are properly restrained.
  o Buckle Up for Life, which began in 2004, was developed jointly by trauma
    specialists at Cincinnati Children's and vehicle safety experts at
    Toyota.  National expansion of the program has been sponsored by Toyota. 
    Additional information is available at www.buckleupforlife.org.

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's
first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing
exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare
professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital
has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its
pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third
in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique
family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed
hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents.
www.chop.edu.

About Toyota

Toyota established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently
operates 10 manufacturing plants and has a network of nearly 1,500
dealerships.  Toyota directly employs over 30,000 in the U.S. and its
investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales
and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and
design.

Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen and believes in
supporting programs with long-term sustainable results.  Toyota supports
numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the
environment and safety.  Since 1991, Toyota has contributed over
half-a-billion dollars to philanthropic programs in the U.S.   For more
information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities nationwide,
visit http://toyotainaction.com/community or toyota.com/community.

Media Contact:
Luis Rosero (Toyota)                   Dana Mortensen
202-607-9027                           267-426-6092
Luis_Rosero@tma.toyota.com             mortensen@email.chop.edu
Brian R. Lyons (Toyota CSRC)
310-468-2552
Brian_Lyons@Toyota.com

 

[i] www.safecar.gov/parents/CarSeats.htm#

[ii] Child Passenger Safety Practices in the U.S., Michelle L. Macy and Gary
L. Freed, University of Michigan, in the American Journal of Preventative
Medicine, September 2012

[iii] NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts (2008 Data) – Research Note

[iv] NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts (2006 Data)

[v] http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/LATCH/

[vi] Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Buckle Up for Life Results

 

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Toyota

Website: http://www.chop.edu
Website: http://toyotainaction.com/community